Resources

On this page you will find links to a variety of resources related to the world of Hymnody.

The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology

TheCanterbury Dictionary of Hymnology is the public launch of the ‘impossible task’ – the replacement for the Dictionary of Hymnology produced by John Julian in 1892, with a supplement in 1907.

The Dictionary is the result of ten years' research by a team of editors headed by Professor J.R. Watson, University of Durham, UK, and Dr Emma Hornby, University of Bristol, UK.

It is an essential reference resource for scholars of global hymnody, with information on the hymns of many countries and languages, and a strong emphasis on the historical as well as the contemporary. It will be of interest to literary scholars, musicians, church historians, and theologians, and a delight for those who love the hymn as an art form.

Members of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland have been given free access to this great resource which alone currently costs £69.00 for an annual individual, UK subscription. So you can see what great value membership of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland really is. If you are a member, please login and then access our private page where you will be able to login to the Cantebury Dictionary of Hymnology. Not a member, then please do consider joining us.

Sunday by Sunday

At its core, Sunday by Sunday is a worship planning resource which follows the readings in the Common Worship lectionary, Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) and Roman Lectionary (RL). The readings are presented with a brief summary and a commentary on the Gospel reading to provoke reflection on the theme of the day. When the lectionaries differ, this is provided for. You can see what Sunday by Sunday looks like here.

What readers say…

‘A first-rate publication that I find enormously helpful’‘A lifeline when I’m all out of ideas (usually quite frequently!)’ ‘The most important thing of all that you do. I couldn’t operate without it!’ ‘SbS is exceptional’ ‘SbS is invaluable and saves hours’

Sunday by Sunday lists suggested music for each Sunday and festival, in accordance with the themes and moods of the readings:

Singing the Psalm of the day

Hymns and songs from a wide range of styles and traditions

Anthems and vocal music, including World Music and music from Iona and Taizé

Organ music

Music for all-age worship

For each piece you will find composers, details of sources and publishers, suggestions for liturgical use, and difficulty levels for organ and choral pieces.

Sunday by Sunday draws on the music and spirituality of a wide range of traditions, making Sunday by Sunday a genuinely ecumenical resources.

To supplement the weekly pages of the planner, each issue includes general worship planning resources (often related to the season), printed music reviews, and training articles for musicians and worship leaders.

Like all of the RSCM magazines, the full version of Sunday by Sunday is available in print andonline. Some seasonal listings and music suggestions for special services from Sunday by Sunday are available free on their Planning Worship page.

Sunday by Sunday if free to RSCM subscribed members.

The HymnQuest Project is a hymn and worship song database initiative set up by The Pratt Green Trust in the 1990s. The first publication, a book HymnQuest: A Dictionary of Hymnody was published in 1997 and a software version has been published on behalf of the trust by Stainer & Bell Ltd annually since 2000. The all-new version (16.0) was published in the Copyright Licence Users’ Edition in February 2014 and HymnQuest Lite (replacing the old Standard Version) in June 2014. In August 2015 version 17.0 was introduced, which included a Web App to enable the indexes to be searched on mobile devices. The Joint General Editors are Revd Revd Dr Andrew Pratt and Revd Don Pickard.

The Pratt Green Trust is a charity established in 1984 by the Methodist hymn writer Fred Pratt Green, principally as a means of deploying the royalty income from his hymns for the benefit of authors, composers and users of Hymnody. The Trustees follow the wishes of Fred Pratt Green that they should concentrate on projects that were unlikely otherwise to be fulfilled, and that they were to spend funds, rather than hoard them for undefined future needs. HymnQuest fulfils both these conditions.

Singing Welcome: Hymns and Songs of Hospitality to Refugees and Immigrants

A new resource from the Hymn Society of US and Canada

The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada is pleased to announce the release of Singing Welcome: Hymns and Songs of Hospitality to Refugees and Immigrants, a collection of 46 hymns and songs available for free download from The Hymn Society’s website.

For nearly 100 years, the work of The Hymn Society of the United States and Canada has included the promotion and creation of new hymns that respond to contemporary circumstances, inviting communities of faith to respond through song. The current concerns surrounding refugees and immigrants have stimulated many such songs, and this collection brings together works in a variety of musical styles which address this important matter.

The Singing Welcome Working Group (David Bjorlin; Benjamin Brody; Hilary Seraph Donaldson; Delores Dufner, OSB, FHS; Paul A. Richardson, FHS; and Eric Sarwar) was formed in early February 2017 to develop the new resource. Criteria were established, and a call for submissions was released. Over 200 hymns and songs were submitted for consideration, and through a blind review process, the working group selected 46 items. Benjamin Brody, convener of the working group states, “We are thrilled to offer this collection in service to the church and in response to the current crisis. Our hope and prayer is that these hymns and songs will serve to form and deepen a commitment to hospitality and enable worshiping communities to sing that commitment and welcome in new and engaging ways.”

The collection includes over a dozen songs originating in countries from which many current refugees and immigrants to the U.S. and Canada come. Hilary Donaldson, a member of the working group, notes that “singing a song shared by the church worldwide, in a language that is not our own, is a powerful act of hospitality. By making space in worship for music that might be unfamiliar, we are reminded that we are all guests at the welcoming table of God."

Singing Welcome was made possible by the generosity of the publishers, authors and composers who have graciously granted permission for use of any of the hymns and songs in the collection at no royalty cost for a period of two months. Beyond two months of usage, users must obtain copyright permission in the usual manner (via a copyright licensing service, or through other means).

Since 1922, The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada has lived out its mission to encourage, support, and enliven congregational singing. Its members are guided by the belief that the holy act of singing together shapes faith, heals brokenness, transforms lives, and renews peace. The Hymn Society will officially launch The Center for Congregational Song in Dallas, TX, October 15–16, 2017. This new endeavor will develop new resources and provide regionaland local events to support those who lead congregational singing.

The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada offers this resource for use by churches and individuals. The publishers, authors, and composers have graciously granted permission for use of any of the hymns in this collection at no royalty cost for a period of two months. Beyond two months of usage, copyright permission must be obtained. If your church is a member of One License or CCLI, you are encouraged to report your usage there as you would customarily do. At the end of this collection you can find copyright information.

For additional information contact Benjamin Brody, convener of the Singing Welcome working group (bbrody@whitworth.edu or 509-777-3214) or Jan Kraybill, Executive Director of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada at jan@thehymnsociety.org or 816-521-3014.